Camping Birthday Party Ideas: How I Set Up a Backyard Campout for 11 Kids (And What I Had to Childproof First)

My son Elliot turned 6 last September, and he wanted one thing: to sleep outside. Not at a campground. Not in a cabin. In our backyard, in a tent, with all his friends. I said sure before I thought it through. Then I spent the next three weeks figuring out how to make a backyard campout safe enough that I could actually close my eyes at some point during the night.

Spoiler: I did not close my eyes.

But the party was genuinely great, and it cost me $114 total for 11 kids. Here’s exactly how I did it — what worked, what I had to fix mid-party, and the safety stuff nobody on Pinterest mentions.

The Setup: Three Tents, One Tarp, Zero Bugs (Almost)

I borrowed two 4-person tents from coworkers and bought a cheap 3-person one from Walmart for $29. Set them up in a triangle in the backyard with a tarp overhead connecting them — that was my “common area.” I got the tarp idea from a dad on Reddit who threw a camping party in Portland where it rains every other day. Smart.

The tent arrangement mattered more than I expected. I put them close enough that I could hear everything from the patio door, but far enough apart that the kids felt like they were in “different campsites.” Each tent got a battery-powered LED lantern ($4.50 each at Target) and a name — Tent Bear, Tent Eagle, Tent Wolf. The kids picked their tent when they arrived, which immediately became a whole social negotiation I hadn’t planned for.

Bug situation: I sprayed the yard with a Cutter backyard fogger two days before the party. Not the day of — two days. The can says it lasts up to 8 hours, but I tested it the week before and mosquitoes were back by hour 6. Two days out meant I could re-spray the morning of without worrying about kids touching wet surfaces. I also set up two citronella candles on the patio, but honestly the fogger did 90% of the work.

The Safety Checklist I Made (And Actually Used)

Look, I know I’m that parent. The one who reads the CPSC recall list for fun. But when you have 11 six-year-olds sleeping outside in your backyard, you want to be that parent.

Here’s what I checked:

Fire safety: No real campfire. I wanted one. Elliot wanted one. But the liability of open flames with 11 kids I’m responsible for? No. I bought an electric “flame” lantern from Amazon — the flickering LED kind. Cost $16. Every single kid believed it was real fire for about 45 minutes until Priya touched it and announced “it’s cold.” I was fine with that timeline.

Tent stakes: The tent stakes that came with the cheap Walmart tent were metal and pointy. I covered every single one with a pool noodle section and duct tape. Took 20 minutes. A kid tripped over one within the first hour — bounced off the pool noodle, kept running. That was $3.78 well spent on the pool noodle.

Food allergies: Three of the 11 kids had allergies — two nut-free, one gluten-free. I made the entire menu nut-free and added gluten-free marshmallows and hot dog buns. Total extra cost for allergy-safe options: about $11. Way easier than trying to manage separate plates in the dark.

Sleeping bags: I asked every parent to send their kid with their own sleeping bag and pillow. Nine out of eleven did. The other two got spare blankets from our linen closet. One kid (Elliot’s best friend Marcus) brought his sleeping bag, a pillow, a stuffed bear, a flashlight, and a walkie-talkie. Overpacked legend.

Activities That Actually Worked Until 10 PM

Scavenger hunt (5:30-6:15 PM): I printed 15 clues on index cards and hid them around the yard. Each clue led to the next one. Final clue led to a cooler with juice boxes and glow sticks. Total cost: $0 for the cards (already had them), $7.99 for a 50-pack of glow sticks. This bought me 45 minutes of kids running in the same general direction, which felt like a miracle.

Campfire cooking (6:30-7:15 PM): Since no real fire, we used our kitchen stove. I brought the s’mores stuff outside on trays, but we assembled and toasted marshmallows inside in batches of 4 kids at a time. Not as romantic as a campfire. Still delicious. I went through 3 bags of marshmallows for 11 kids and 2 adults. That’s roughly 90 marshmallows. Nobody got sick, somehow.

Hat decorating station (7:15-8:00 PM): This was the surprise hit. I grabbed two packs of GINYOU’s DIY assembly party hats — the ones where kids build and decorate their own. For the camping theme, I set out green and brown markers, leaf stickers, and animal stamps. The kids made “ranger hats” (they were cone hats, but the kids called them ranger hats, and I wasn’t about to correct them). Elliot’s friend Sofia made one with a bear face that was honestly better than anything I could do. This activity ran 45 minutes without me having to manage it. Worth every penny.

Flashlight tag (8:15-9:30 PM): Once it got dark, flashlight tag took over. Rules: if the beam hits you, you’re frozen. Another player has to tag you to unfreeze. I set boundaries with the glow sticks from the scavenger hunt — if you run past the glow stick line, you’re out. This game ran itself for over an hour. I just sat on the patio and watched dots of light bounce around my yard. Best part of the night.

Scary stories (9:30-10:00 PM): Kept it mild. Very mild. I read from a book of “spooky” stories meant for 5-8 year olds. Three kids hid in their sleeping bags. One kid (Priya, the same one who exposed the fake fire) said “that’s not even scary.” I stopped at two stories because the hiding kids were getting genuinely anxious.

The Budget Breakdown ($114 Total)

Here’s where every dollar went:

• 3-person tent (Walmart): $29.00
• 3 LED lanterns: $13.50
• Electric flame lantern: $16.00
• Pool noodle + duct tape: $5.78
• Glow sticks 50-pack: $7.99
• S’mores supplies (marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate): $14.30
• Hot dogs + buns (regular + GF): $9.80
• Juice boxes + water: $6.40
• DIY party hats x2 packs: $11.98
• Birthday cake (homemade, supplies): $8.20
• Bug fogger + citronella: $11.50

Borrowed tents: free. Paper plates and napkins: already had them. Flashlights for tag: asked every kid to bring one (they all did — kids love flashlights).

For comparison, the indoor trampoline park Elliot’s friend went to last month was $340 for 10 kids. And they were there for 90 minutes. My party was 17 hours. I’m not saying mine was better, but…$114 for 17 hours.

Three Things I’d Do Different

1. Start later. We started at 5:30 PM because I was anxious about fitting everything in. Should’ve started at 6:30. The first hour, it was still fully light out and the kids just wanted to run around — they didn’t care about my carefully planned scavenger hunt yet. The magic of a campout party starts when it gets dark.

2. More snacks, fewer meals. I made hot dogs as a “dinner” at 6:30. Half the kids had already eaten before they came. Should’ve just done snack stations — trail mix bar, fruit, cheese sticks — and saved the big event for s’mores.

3. Assign tents in advance. Letting kids pick their own tent sounded democratic. In practice, it meant Elliot and his three closest friends all picked Tent Bear, and two kids who didn’t know anyone well ended up in Tent Wolf feeling left out. Next time, I’d pre-assign tent groups to mix friend circles.

Gear Worth Having (And What’s Overkill)

Worth it: Battery LED lanterns (non-negotiable for tent safety), glow sticks (multi-use — scavenger hunt markers, game boundaries, nightlights), the DIY hat station (kept kids busy during the awkward transition between daylight and dark), and a good bug fogger.

Overkill: I bought a star projector for $22 that was supposed to project constellations on the tent ceiling. Cool idea. Couldn’t see it because the LED lanterns were too bright. Returned it. I also bought gold metallic party hats thinking the kids would want a fancier option alongside the DIY ones. Nope. Every single kid preferred the ones they made themselves. The gold hats ended up on me and my wife. We looked ridiculous. Elliot took a photo.

If you’re planning an outdoor birthday party, a campout version is honestly one of the easiest themes to pull off because nature does most of the decorating. You don’t need a balloon arch when you have actual trees. The construction party I did for Elliot’s 4th was way more work in terms of setup.

Frequently Asked Questions

The party favors were the hats they decorated plus a leftover glow stick and a fun-size bag of trail mix. Total favor cost: maybe $2 per kid. Elliot told me it was his best birthday ever. He’s said that every year since he was 3, but this time I think he meant it — he still talks about flashlight tag. That’s the test, really. Not how good the photos look, but whether they bring it up three months later unprompted.

Bring Your Dog to the Campout

My friend Sarah brought her corgi Biscuit to a backyard camping party last summer. The kids were thrilled. Biscuit wore a dog birthday hat for the group photo and somehow kept it on for 20 minutes straight. If your family dog is part of the celebration, grab a few dog birthday party supplies so they can join in properly. Just keep the s-mores away from them.